Lunch and Learn with Alon Tal, Israel’s leading environmentalist, and a founder and co-chair of Israel’s new green party.

The acute deterioration in Israel’s environmental conditions is only part of the social agenda which brought one million Israelis to demonstrations this summer. Are we seeing a change in the Israeli political map and the public’s ecological awareness? What policies are needed to address the steady damage to Israel’s open spaces, biodiversity loss, the disappearing Dead Sea and myriad public health insults? Alon Tal, recognized by the Haaretz newspaper as Israel’s leading environmentalist, and a founder and co-chair of Israel’s new green party will present a new “green” agenda for Zionism and consider scenarios for progress in Israel.

Alon Tal is on temporary leave as co-chairman of the Green Movement, Israel’s Green Party. He is a member of the faculty at Ben Gurion University and presently is a visiting professor at Stanford University. He is also a member of the JNF International Board. Dr. Tal is the founder of the Israel Union for Environmental Defense and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. In 2008 he won a life achievement award from Israel’s Ministry of Environment in honor of the country’s 60th anniversary.